eamble to the Colored
Citizens of the World But in Particular and Very Particularly to those of
the United States of America". Although his father had been a slave,
David Walker himself was born free in North Carolina. His hatred of
slavery drove him to Boston, where he became a clothing merchant, but he
was unable to forget his brethren who were still in bondage. The result
was that in 1829, he published a pamphlet which was both a vehement
attack against the institution of slavery and an open invitation for the
slaves to rise up in arms.

First, he pointed out that all races of the earth were called men and
assumed to be free with the sole exception of the Africans. He denied
that his people wished to be white, insisting rather that they preferred
to be just as their creator had made them. Urging his brothers not to
show fear because God was on their side, Walker contended that any man
who was not willing to fight for his freedom deserved to remain in
slavery and to be butchered by his captors. Insisting that death was
preferable to slavery, he insisted that, if an uprising occurred, the
slaves would have to be willing to kill or be killed. Moreover, he urged
that it was no worse to kill a man in self-defense than it was to take a
drink of water when thirsty. Rather, a man who would not defend himself
was worse than an infidel, and not deserving of pity.

In addressing the American people, Walker foresaw that if they would
treat Africans as men, they could all live together in harmony. Georgia
offered $10,000 for Walker if taken alive and $1,000 for him dead. A year
later Walker died under somewhat mysterious circumstances, and some
claimed that he had been murdered. His pamphlet circulated widely
throughout the North and the South, and many believed that it helped to
encourage slave insurrections.

"Freedoms Journal", which had been founded in 1827 by Samuel E. Cornish
and John B. Russwurm, was the first in a long series of Afro-American
newspapers. Russwurm had been the first of his race to receive a college
degree in America. In their first editorial, they proclaimed what was
becoming a growing conviction. They said that others had spoken for the
black man for too long. It was time that he spoke for himself. They also
attacked slavery and racial prejudice. They strove to make the paper a
medium for communication and debate within the Afro-American community.
They also intended to use the paper to clarify m